


Time is a Funny Thing

by elizabethrene



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Timers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 19:56:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6920848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elizabethrene/pseuds/elizabethrene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has a timer on their wrist counting down to the moment when they meet their soulmate. What happens when your timer runs out and Eric is at his first team meeting for the Samwell Men's Hockey team?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time is a Funny Thing

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing in a very long time, and my first venture into the zimbits fandom. I recently went to the doctor about my anxiety and she suggested writing my help me keep a handle on what I'm feeling. I don't think fanfiction was what she had in mind but this is how I interpreted her suggestion. Enjoy!

 

Bitty was filming a new edition to his vlog about meeting the SMH team for the first time. He was appalled at the lack of hygiene he had witnessed but there was something else he needed to get off his chest.

“BUT! My soulmate timer is at zero! I obviously knew it was getting very close but I couldn’t have imagined that it would be at the first team meeting! How am I supposed to know which of those felonious boys is the one?”

Bitty was beside himself with joy and confusion. Surely the boy who’s timer also went off would have said something...right? But then again, Bitty didn’t come out and ask, “Okay teammates who I’ve only just met for the first time, who’s soulmate timer just reached zero?” What if the person who’s timer coincided with his wasn’t out, or didn’t realize he was destined to be with a man? What if he thought one of the sister’s of the players was the person they were meant for? No, Bitty couldn’t just come out with a question like that in front of what amounted to a room of total strangers. What kind of soulmate would that make him?

So Bitty waited to see if he could figure it out for himself.

~~~~~~

 

Bitty was sure of one thing. His soulmate was certainly not Jack Zimmermann. He was the team captain and all he did was harp on Bitty to eat more protein and to learn how to take a check! It wasn’t Bitty’s fault the thought of checking brought back images of being slammed into lockers by the bullies at his high school. 18 years of being picked on was hard to shake off just because your team captain told you to do it. 

So, no, there was no way Jack Zimmermann could be his soulmate. That’s just ridiculous.

~~~~~~

Over time, Bitty made himself comfortable going to the Haus and using their kitchen and he bonded with the team. He even felt comfortable enough with Shitty to come out to him about being gay. 

He also found that he enjoyed the checking practices that Jack forced him into at the ungodly hour of 4 AM. He was trying so hard to get over his fear but all the progress he made was for nothing when he ended the season with a concussion after a particularly nasty check. That also may have been the moment Jack started to realize that Bitty was more than just a linemate.

 

~~~~~

Over the course of the summer, Bitty healed from his concussion. He also got the chop and moved into the Haus. It was a summer of transformations for him. He wasn’t so worried about figuring out which teammate he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with. He just wanted to enjoy his time at Samwell and let things happen they was they were supposed to happen. 

He didn’t even notice that Jack seemed to show up in the most odd places just because Bitty was there. When he crashed into him on the bridge with George, it was simply a coincidence. And when they were suddenly partners for their project in Women, Food, and American Culture it was just a convenient partnership and nothing more because they lived in the same Haus and it would be easy to get the project done in the kitchen they shared together.

Bitty wasn’t exactly the most observant person. 

He didn’t realize that Jack had seen his soulmate timer and knew that it was at zero. He also was unaware that Jack and Shitty had many heart to hearts about Jack’s own sexuality and the state of his soulmate timer. He was absolutely clueless that Jack was his soulmate and knew that Bitty was his but he was completely terrified of taking that step before he knew what his future with the NHL would look like. He didn’t know if he was strong enough yet to be out in a professional sports setting. 

So Bitty enjoyed his time with his friend Jack while he could and dealt with the fact that he was in love with a straight guy in his spare time, alone in his room.

 

~~~~~~~

Time went on and the school year flashed right by. Jack signed with the Providence Falconers, which was a relief to both him and Bitty, even if the other was unaware of that. Bitty would be able to stay in touch with his captain and friend and Jack would be able to stay in his soulmate’s life until he was ready to come clean about what he knew. 

They said their tearful goodbyes after the graduation ceremony and Bitty had found himself in Jack’s room crying about the end of an era and missing the man he was in love with already. He had his headphones on and didn’t hear the door slam downstairs as Jack rushed to find him. He didn’t know that just minutes after he left, Bad Bob had finally said what Jack needed to hear in order to finally confess to Bitty what he was feeling and what he knew. 

He didn't know that he life was about to change forever.

But change it did. Jack came up behind him and finally got his attention and after frantically asking if everything was alright, Jack kissed him! 

JACK ZIMMERMANN KISSED HIM!

 

That was all it took for Bitty to realize how wrong he had been about tossing the idea of Jack as soulmate into the gutter. The instant their lips touched Bitty was home. Everyone talked about what the first kiss with your soulmate was like but there was no preparing him for the reality of it. 

Sparks exploded behind his eyes and it was like the universe popped into technicolor. He was with the person he would love for the rest of his life and the big lug waited until they were about to be separated for at least two years before he finally did something about it.

When they pulled away from each other to catch their breath, Jack apologized.

“I’m sorry, Bitty. I’m sorry it took me this long to get my act together. I’ve known we were soulmates for months but I was too afraid I wasn’t strong enough to handle what us being together would mean. You know my past and I didn’t want to screw up the best thing that ever happened to me. Can you ever forgive me?”

Bitty was completely still in shock. How could he have ever doubted the way he was feeling for Jack? But how could Jack not have said something the second he knew? 

“Jack Zimmermann, you have a lifetime to make it up to me. And you can start with kissing me again before I have to catch my plane and promise to call and text me whenever you can.”

“Anything you want, as long as you promise me one thing.”

Bitty would have promised him the world in that moment. “Anything, sweetheart.”  
“Eat more protein, Bits. You’ll need your strength when I come visit you in Georgia this summer.” 

And with a wink he was running back to meet his parents.


End file.
